[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

A similar joke, that I think was made famous by Pierre Trudeau, though I doubt he invented it:

Poor Canada! She could have had American Know-How, British Government, and French Culture. Instead, she got British Know-How, French Government, and American Culture.

And which Mexican dictator was it who said: "Poor Meh-hee-co! So faaaaar from God! So close to the United States!" (Porfirio Diaz, perhaps?)

[radu]

I hadn’t heard either one of those before.

And yep, it was Porfirio Diaz. :-)